This post from February of 2023 is happening again tonight, exactly as described, but sub oldest daughter for middle. Wish me luck once...

This post from February of 2023 is happening again tonight, exactly as described, but sub oldest daughter for middle. Wish me luck once again. How are my kids so big?

2024 Planner Audit

While it may seem strange to do a planner audit in August, most major planner companies release their 2025 models in the next few weeks. To be ready for these releases, this afternoon I took inventory of what has worked and not worked for me this year so I would know what to buy for next year. This exercise was helpful enough that I thought I would share in the hopes it would be beneficial for someone else to read as well.

So let’s start with what I used this year:

• Midori 3 Year Diary - This is my first year using a multi year diary. I got this as a Christmas gift, started it on January 1, and have every day filled in with something. I’m excited to reach next year so I can start second entries on pages. This has been really consistent and joyful for me. Definitely going to keep this going next year.

• Plotter Bible Size - My work planner. I am the Product Owner of a development team. I use monthly pages in the front of the Plotter to mark down specific days the team released software as a reference for later. Next, Plotter weekly refills hold my to-do lists and day plans. Then, at the back of the notebook, I keep Plotter project managers full of dot grid pages of notes on individual features we are building. This has also worked well and I’ve used it consistently. I plan on continuing this next year.

• Plotter A5 Size - My first Plotter, and originally my only planner, in 2024 this was primarily used for taking notes on sermons at church as well as for some classes I took. I love this binder, but didn’t use it nearly as much as I would have liked. Ideally, I could find something else to use it for next year.

• Plotter Mini 5 - Also received at Christmas, this has been my wallet for all of 2024. The goal was to use this as a catch all I could use when out and about to help keep me off my phone , but my phone has been used much more than this notebook.. It’s just a very expensive wallet where I occasionally make shopping or other similar lists.

• Traveler’s Notebook Passport - This has two inserts in it currently. One is my prayer notebook, and the other for long-form journaling. I like having each of these things, but I find myself not using this much. I think it may be too small and I don’t like having to hold it open to write.

• Jetpens Kanso Noto - This is mostly my go to notebook for trying out new inks. It is my last remaining notebook with original Tomoe River paper in it, so it shows off ink incredibly well. Maybe I could come up with another use for this, but I’m also being really stingy with it since the paper will be gone forever.

My main takeaway from this list is that two of the notebooks I struggled with most are pocket sized, made for people on the go…which I am not. I work from home and spend almost all of my time there. I should optimize for a home setup and then find ways to make it work outside the house. This has led to the following plan for next year.

• Midori 3 year, Plotter Bible, and Kanso Noto - Not changing a thing here.

• Plotter A5 Size I am going to attempt to make this my personal planner for the year. I will keep the items in it I did this year, but include monthly pages and make daily pages out of dot grid paper. On those daily pages I hope to include prayers, journal entries, and tasks I need to complete outside of work. I’m trying a proof of concept of this now. If it doesn’t go well over the next weeks (for instance if I don’t like having a real journal be ring bound where pages can be removed), I may order a Hobonichi with daily layouts to meet this need when those go on sale in a few weeks. In this case, I would return the A5 to it’s 2024 use. I don’t think it will be too burdensome to take this with me outside the house many places I go. And if I need to, I can carry it in one of my many Tom Bihn bags (which I need excuses to use).

• Plotter Mini 5 I think I’m going to keep this the same too, but with less pressure on it. It will be great to add a note into for the rare time I’m out and about without my full planner, but I’m not going to stress about using it more or less.

• Write Notepads Landscape Notebook - I am adding this notepad back into my rotation. I started it sometime last year, used it for a bit, and then put it on the shelf. But it’s great for larger form brainstorming, doodling during meetings, and temporary stuff. This is going to be for what I wanted the Mini 5 to be, but never used it for while sitting at my desk. Important things I write down on it may go into another planner. Others will just be for fun.

It’s a good thing I did this audit when I did because about an hour after completing it, Plotter announced their 2025 refills were on sale. I was able to grab the weekly and monthly refills I needed immediately.

No planner system is perfect, but I am pleased that I found a theme in my issues from 2024 and made a plan to address them. That feels like progress.

📺 I don’t know who at SNL green lit a Moulin Rouge sketch in 2024, but I’m here for it. (Also, I was just a few blocks away when they...

📺 I don’t know who at SNL green lit a Moulin Rouge sketch in 2024, but I’m here for it.

(Also, I was just a few blocks away when they were filming it!)

🖋️ Today was a fountain pen nerd dream come true.

🖋️ Today was a fountain pen nerd dream come true.

I hope everyone had a great Leap Day. Real life is for March!

I hope everyone had a great Leap Day. Real life is for March!

🖋️ Well, I just reserved a room at the hotel for the Atlanta Pen Show. So I won’t just be going up for Saturday. I’m going...

🖋️ Well, I just reserved a room at the hotel for the Atlanta Pen Show. So I won’t just be going up for Saturday. I’m going to see what all the fuss is about in the evening hours of a pen show. Proud of myself for taking a risk and doing something where I won’t know anyone.

🎵 One of my favorite artists, Thad Cockrell, has a new album out. The only way to listen to it is to buy it for $100. To me, it was...

🎵 One of my favorite artists, Thad Cockrell, has a new album out. The only way to listen to it is to buy it for $100. To me, it was absolutely worth it. But I’m not sure how to share it with others when there’s no way to listen to any songs. It’s an interesting risk he’s taking. I hope it pays off.

🖋️ Note to self: Don’t bring a pen inked with Diamine Writer’s Blood to a work event. When you get ink on your hands, you will draw...

🖋️ Note to self: Don’t bring a pen inked with Diamine Writer’s Blood to a work event. When you get ink on your hands, you will draw a lot of concern from coworkers.

It’s time for my annual first Auburn Gymnastics Meet Pretzel Pic.

It’s time for my annual first Auburn Gymnastics Meet Pretzel Pic.

I just realized that after January 2nd, I switched back to writing 2023 in my Midori 3 year diary every day. I was so proud of how...

I just realized that after January 2nd, I switched back to writing 2023 in my Midori 3 year diary every day. I was so proud of how consistently I was writing in it, but I was also consistently wrong. 😂

📺 Really enjoying Monarch: Legacy of Monsters on AppleTV+. Love a story that moves back and forth in time to slowly reveal things.

📺 Really enjoying Monarch: Legacy of Monsters on AppleTV+. Love a story that moves back and forth in time to slowly reveal things.

Today was surreal and beautiful. I got to take my wife and kids to explore my great grandparents' property in North Georgia (now my...

Today was surreal and beautiful. I got to take my wife and kids to explore my great grandparents' property in North Georgia (now my grandmother’s). As a child, I spent many hours here, and seeing my own kids playing there brought a tear to my eye.

[6] For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called...

[6] For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
    and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 

Isaiah 9:6 (ESV)

Merry Christmas everyone!

🖋️ I don’t use micro.blog emoji in posts with titles, so I’m reposting my 2023 planner review in case it’s...

🖋️ I don’t use micro.blog emoji in posts with titles, so I’m reposting my 2023 planner review in case it’s interesting for folks scrolling the pens category.

2023 Stationary Review: The Planners

As we get to the end of the year, many in the stationary community will share their reflections on what they’ve used and what changes they’re going to make for next year. I have had a really good year stationary wise, so I thought I would share my usage and plans as well.

So with that intro, I’d like to discuss 2023: The Year of Plotter.

Technically the year of Plotter began with this same exercise last year. I had been using a Rhodia Goalbook as a bullet journal for multiple years, but saw the Plotter hype online, and found a way to convince myself that I needed one instead of the goalbook. I honestly don’t remember what the justification I used was, but deep down they looked nice, and I wanted to see what the fuss was about. I took possession of my A5 Plotter in early October.

Adorably, I thought I would make it to the new year before beginning to use the Plotter. I made it to the end of October.

For the first 6 or so months of its life, the Plotter was just a really fancy Bullet Journal. I used the Monthly Schedule Refill as my Monthly log in the front of the notebook, 5mm dot grid pages for my daily logs, and the occasional Project Manager to keep up with certain items from work and sermon notes from church. It worked well and delighted me every time I opened it.

However, in May, I began what ended up being a 5 month long transition to a new position at my company. AKA, I was doing 2 jobs at once. AKA, my system couldn’t keep up.

The beauty and the problem with Plotter is their binders can only hold 80 or so pages. Between all the notes I was taking for both jobs, my tasks, and everything else, I was running out of space. So…I bought another Plotter. Shocking, I know. This time I bought a Bible size.

My intention was to use the A5 for all personal planning and notes, and the Bible for everything work related.

The intention was good, but buying a whole organization system right at the start of a new job is not always the best idea. I didn’t fully know what my day to day work would be like or what kinds of things I would need to keep track of. I came to discover I don’t like having tasks between separate notebooks. One gets neglected.

I’ve spent most of the last few months trying different layouts, paper types, arrangements, and more between the two plotters, and I finally have a system that is mostly working now for going into the new year. I have decided to let the Plotters be good at what they are, and nothing else. That means there will be other notebooks/journals (and boy will there be 😂) in the mix as well, but I will discuss those another time. I put a few of these items on my Christmas list, so we’ll have to see if Santa comes through.

The A5 plotter will no longer be for any task management. It will only be for storing personal notes, mostly sermon notes and other studies I’m completing. The Bible sized will be my planner for all tasks and work notes. The goal will be to organize these notes into project managers.

In the Bible size, I plan to use Plotter’s monthly refills to keep track of the sprints my dev team will be completing as well as holidays and team PTO. This will allow me to understand how much work can be accomplished each sprint, and can always be quickly referenced as I plan ahead. I currently already have the monthly refills for the first quarter of 2024 in the binder.

When the new year actually beghins, I plan to use Plotter’s weekly refills for planning my days and actual to do lists. I’m concerned this may not give me enough space for all the tasks I will have in a week, but I at least want to try them. If I need to, I can always add a Plotter To Do List page in the middle of the weekly laylout.

Separated by the pen holder/lifter, I have a project manager at the back of the binder with notes on all the features our team is currently building into the software or will build in the next quarter. Each feature currently just has a single 5mm dot grid page dedicated for notes. I write down things we need to consider, questions we have, and general info I will need to reference as I begin to build out development tickets for the team to work on.

While there are still some unknowns, this setup feels like it aligns with my needs, allows me to use the notebooks I enjoy, and will help me get everything done I need to. I hope to do a check in further into the year to share how things are going.

🖋️I’ve always dealt with feathering on Plotter paper, but I just realized today it’s only with Iroshizuku inks. I may have...

🖋️I’ve always dealt with feathering on Plotter paper, but I just realized today it’s only with Iroshizuku inks. I may have to start phasing those out from being my most used inks now that I know. 😭

🎮 Downloading the Pokemon Violet DLC: The Indigo Disk. My family and I have gotten so much fun out of Violet and The Teal Mask. Very...

🎮 Downloading the Pokemon Violet DLC: The Indigo Disk. My family and I have gotten so much fun out of Violet and The Teal Mask. Very excited for what’s next.

📺 No spoilers, but I really enjoyed this run of Doctor Who specials, and can’t wait for the Christmas special.

📺 No spoilers, but I really enjoyed this run of Doctor Who specials, and can’t wait for the Christmas special.

🎙️New Software Updates from Apple! (iOS17, macOS Sonoma, watchOS 9), with Craig McClellan — Robby Burns I was back on Music Ed Tech...

🎙️New Software Updates from Apple! (iOS17, macOS Sonoma, watchOS 9), with Craig McClellan — Robby Burns

I was back on Music Ed Tech Talk to discuss Apple’s fall updates!

According to my kids, Alexander Hamilton was present at the birth of Jesus. Batman also made an appearance, but we didn’t get a picture of...

According to my kids, Alexander Hamilton was present at the birth of Jesus. Batman also made an appearance, but we didn’t get a picture of that.

🏈 I know I probably won’t get it, but as an Auburn fan who can’t stand Alabama or Georgia, I’m really hoping for a playoff...

🏈 I know I probably won’t get it, but as an Auburn fan who can’t stand Alabama or Georgia, I’m really hoping for a playoff featuring:

1. Michigan
2. Washington
3. FSU
4. Texas

Even without Jordan Travis, trading a no loss, ACC champion FSU for a Bama who lost to Texas would be a crime.

🖋️ I have 3 regular Kaweco Sports, and never enjoyed them. But after seeing @Brad talk about the Mercury Orange AL Sport and suggest an...

🖋️ I have 3 regular Kaweco Sports, and never enjoyed them. But after seeing @Brad talk about the Mercury Orange AL Sport and suggest an EF nib on his stream, I had to give it a shot. Combined with Wearingeul The Great Gatsby, this pen is completely perfect and a new favorite.

Chaperoning my daughter’s 4th grade field trip today to our state capitol. Wish me luck. 😂

Chaperoning my daughter’s 4th grade field trip today to our state capitol. Wish me luck. 😂

Hoping iOS 17.2 and its feature that stops music from counting toward your stats is released before the new year. I want my kids to have 0...

Hoping iOS 17.2 and its feature that stops music from counting toward your stats is released before the new year. I want my kids to have 0 influence over my 2024 Apple Music Replay. 😂

🏈 Saturday’s Iron Bowl loss was brutal, but the people calling for a head coach’s job when he took Alabama to the last...

🏈 Saturday’s Iron Bowl loss was brutal, but the people calling for a head coach’s job when he took Alabama to the last seconds of the game with the worst roster Auburn has had in years are crazy. I’m sad at how impatient so many college football fans are now.